week #1: where it all begins

At my birthday party last week my friends, old and new, helped me come up with 30 things to do before I am thirty.  Para glide (Ok, this one is mine.) Set up a stand a farmers market. (If time and talent allows.) Stand on Mt. Zion. (Already did in Jerusalem. Figuratively every Wed night.) Dance in the rain. (for sure) Meet weird Al (um, no) Ride in a hot air balloon. (would love to) Get a pet duck. (probably not) Let Joanna give you a make over. (yes.) Eat fire ants. (If I come across them, ok.) Hike squaw peak. (for sure) Learn how to sing the Macarena. Backpack Death Hollow. (Ray Ann, you name the day.) Drive across country in a convertible. See the sign. Get 30 kisses. Hike Mt. Kilimanjaro. (I don't know if I will make it to Africa this year.) Hike Mt. Fuji (...or Japan) River raft in Colorado. Kiss a sheep. Go to Europe. Memorize the lyrics to "American Pie." Go to Antarctica. (Someday).

The list came up a little short so I added a few of my own. Graduate with a master's degree. (April 2011) Read the Book of Mormon in two weeks at least twice. Do a month of cooking everything from scratch. Go to the Grand Canyon. Weekly temple attendance. Train for a triathlon. 52 weeks of purposeful living. Is that 30? I'm not even going to count because this list is going to evolve. I  need some more time to think and figure it out.

Setting goals is not a new thing for me. I’ve done it regularly for years. Lists of things I want to accomplish are scattered throughout my journals. However, they aren't usually something that make public. I like to keep things to myself. It’s safer that way. But, I have observed that when you tell people, they follow up with you and they hold you to them. So I am going to give it a try. One of my main goals this year is to live and experience as much as I can, and do it on purpose. I want to feel like I have accomplished something every week this year. I want to make sure I experience and live an abundant life and I want Live on Purpose. Each week I will try to report these goals and experiences. 

So Fifty-two weeks of goals, learning, experiencing, Living on Purpose begins now.  

PS. My siblings gave my a fun digital scrap booking program. And it is going to be a fun creative outlet and used for more than just scrap booking.